A Library for Schizophrenics

One of the most depressing aspects of my job as a nurse on a psych ward is the sheer boredom our patients suffer. Besides three hours of group on weekdays, three meals and three snack times and all the reality TV they can stand, they  have little to do, except stare at the gray walls. Sometimes a deck of cards is available, a puzzle (with several pieces missing), a game of Connect Four. But mostly they listen to the TV all day in a 25' square room with one window. And the blind is closed on the window. No sunlight. Ever.

Can you can imagine staying there for a couple of weeks? A month? It's a recipe for insanity, I tell you.

So I decided that I might be able to lessen the boredom--maybe even offer a little enlightenment?--if I brought in a few books now and then from the thrift store. I've been careful in my selections.

I found copies of some of the biggies in the self-help genre: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, or How To Win Friends and Influence People. A few classics, like To Kill a Mockingbird.

I mentioned my project to my friend Gwen, and she and her friend Lorri brought me huge sacks they'd read themselves or found at the thrift store. With their kind help, I now had enough and to spare.

It's been interesting to see who picks up a book and reads. I found a heroin addict diving into "A Million Little Pieces" and telling me how real and true to life - his life - it was.

A young woman with schizoaffective disorder, who had been sullen and angry for days, picked up Julie and Julia and her jaw dropped when she read that the author has sold her eggs to a fertility clinic for $7500. She laughed out loud, a real change for the better!

Another long-time homeless addict was engrossed in "Walking Across Egypt".

An education administrator had spotted a copy of Inkheart, a series he was familiar with because so many students were reading it. But another patient grabbed it before he could get, which made him kind of sad. I asked if he liked John Grisham novels. He did, and in the stack was one he hadn't yet read.

At times the books have to be put away, like when a very psychotic patient just tears the jackets off, or they're suffering from hypergraphia, a compulsion to write constantly. One patient managed to underline most of the sentences in one novel, then asked if we had another because she'd used that one up. You just have to smile. As soon as they stabilize and their behavior evens out, we bring out the books again. Then the new patients ask me eagerly, "You have books?!"

Yes, we do!